report from Japan

I just returned from Japan, and can report that the situation with Japan's
COFDM-based digital TV system is slowly improving.

1seg, the Japanese low resolution mobile digital TV system, is no longer
completely unusable in vehicles. It is now semi-usable when in
stop-and-go traffic. With the latest and greatest 1seg tuner, I once
actually succeeded in holding lock on a broadcast OTA TV signal in 1seg
for a whole minute, albeit with considerable pixellation.

1seg still doesn't work worth a damn when the vehicle is going faster than
about 15 km/h (10MPH), nor on a train, nor at the airport.

There are a lot more 1seg capable mobile phones, but nobody's using them.
Leaving aside the necessity to use earphones in public places (Japanese
society frowns upon people who let their personal entertainment disturb
others), it just doesn't work on the commuter trains. The local trains
frequently go underground or have roofs at the stations, both of which
knock out reception; and the long-distance trains travel too fast to hold
a lock.

1seg works better when you're not moving. In a house, if you have your
1seg TV by a window, you can get the same program on a bitty screen that
you can on your full sized HDTV.

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

On Mar 25, 11:25 pm, Mark Crispin wrote:
Leaving aside the necessity to use earphones in public places (Japanese
society frowns upon people who let their personal entertainment disturb
others)

What a concept! Too bad Americans are too self-centered to emulate
civilized behavior like that.

Cheers.

Victor

"Victor Martinez" wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 11:25 pm, Mark Crispin wrote:
Leaving aside the necessity to use earphones in public places (Japanese
society frowns upon people who let their personal entertainment disturb
others)

What a concept! Too bad Americans are too self-centered to emulate
civilized behavior like that.

Cheers.

Victor

Their amazingly harsh and strict police forces really help keep the bad
elements in line.

Last July, 2004 my business friend Hiroshi and I had been to a restaurant
and had some drinks and found that he had gotten a parking ticket. He had to
immediately appear at a nearby police station and was. he. scared.

"Just ONE beer and driving will put you in jail". It went okay, though .
.. . .they didn't notice......whew. . . .

Tantalust wrote:
"Victor Martinez" wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 11:25 pm, Mark Crispin wrote:
Leaving aside the necessity to use earphones in public places (Japanese
society frowns upon people who let their personal entertainment disturb
others)
What a concept! Too bad Americans are too self-centered to emulate
civilized behavior like that.

Cheers.

Victor

Their amazingly harsh and strict police forces really help keep the bad
elements in line.

Last July, 2004 my business friend Hiroshi and I had been to a restaurant
and had some drinks and found that he had gotten a parking ticket. He had to
immediately appear at a nearby police station and was. he. scared.

"Just ONE beer and driving will put you in jail". It went okay, though .
. . .they didn't notice......whew. . . .



The 'headphone thing' is ingrained in the
culture and 'taught' from early childhood.
Japanese are taught to require less 'personal
space' than any other major culture and are able
to draw into themselves in a crowd. Joy comes
from within and need not be expansive or
narcissistic or annoying to others.
--
pj